


The Gods of Japan

by Xewleer



Category: Japanese Mythology, Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-04-22 12:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4834943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xewleer/pseuds/Xewleer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I went on a journey to Japan recently. It's as lovely as you can imagine. I'm not one for cities, and while I enjoy a good anime, I wasn't influenced to see Shinjuku or other Meccas of Geek culture. I am a man of nature. I had experiences with the fairy-folk of Europe, and have experienced some tricks by the grace of Coyote, trickster god of North American Indians. As you can imagine, I also met several interesting characters. I wrestled with the Boar God of Koshi Mountain, in Hokkaido. I slew a pair of maneating red oni. I kissed a Yuki-onna and other adventures besides. I'm writing this down here because no one will take this seriously, but I am compelled to tell my stories. I'll translate all Japanese for you, so sit, and enjoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fall at the Mountain of the Boar God

It was the fall when I came to Koshi Mountain in Hokkaido. It is a little known mountain, and a mountain only because it is too tall for a hill, but no larger peak over shadows it. I was compelled to go there because of the aches of travel, and that Koshi was known for hot springs. These hot springs had been used by Samurai and Lords who wished to purify their souls before battle. The landowners did not develop this land at all, but also did not stop wanders. Boars, you see, were savage on the mountain, and while they generally chased, rather than gutted, it was not for those who simply wished to soak in some hotsprings. There were plenty others not even half an hours train ride or drive in any direction.

You see, I deeply enjoy old masculine Japanese culture. I like the posturing, the war, the skill at arms. I am no otaku, as I am perfectly social, and this is a hobby, rather than am obsession, but I could not go to Hokkaido's Koshi Mountain without an attempt at the hotsprings. It would be cowardice! Besides, while Masculinity is an inside deal, you have it or you don't, it can be boosted by achieving deeds of valor. Climbing a boar infested mountain is one of those things.

As a traveler, I travel efficiently, but not lightly. On my back is my backpack, which holds roughly thirty pounds of sleeping bag, food and other necessary camping goods. I had added another twenty pounds of winter gear. It wasn't cold enough to cause me to break it out yet, but it was getting there. Only September, but barely hitting the seventies, Fahrenheit. I'm usually comfortable until 55 or so degrees. I would need it in the future, anyway. Gotta prepare for all weather. I have trunks in my backpack. I have steel toed boots, strong pants and a nice, wide-brim Japanese straw hat that I traded a few hours of work. In my right hand, I kept a great walking staff I was given by a monk, who was traveling like myself, but found himself unable to go on. This stick has its own stories, mine I'll talk about later. My left I kept clear, but had a water bottle, map a few other things I would need while walking usually. While the walking staff was sturdy, I also kept a long knife, sadly, not a full Katana but a Chiisagatana, which is between a Katana and a wakizashi in length. I kept it hidden but it was hidden at my back under the pack, so I could reach it. I would defend with the staff in the left hand, and attack with the Chiisagatana, which I shall call Cheese. I won it in a game of chance against a Yakuza thug. 

I have found the gear I kept, as well as certain special items that went and stayed with me as needed to be ever useful. Sadly, this is not one of those stories, where I macguyver my way out because the villain did not search me properly. This is a simpler tale. For this, the only one of my non-clothing items I found useful was the staff as I climbed Koshi. The mountain has no cliffs, but it is steep, and full of trees.

The township of Koshi was at the base. It is small, sleepy and traditional. I spent time at a cafe in a street market. The men wore everything from proper suits to what I call traditional peasant garb for laborers. I wasn't really picky about that. The women were much more finely dressed. Each wore a type of kimono. Many were brightly covered, red being most common, but a fewer of the more noble wore several rich shades of blue with lovely sashes. One ancient crone carried herself royally with an embroidered red kimono, which had images of lore and history. She hobbled with the aid of a golden cane and was treated with much deference. 

After a coffee and a very lovely dark chocolate parfait, I got up and headed to the mountain. I had walked into the city in the morning, and cleaned myself of the dirt of travel at one of the public baths. They looked at me funny, not having seen a White American in the flesh before, but the girls were flirtatious and pretty enough, so I let them be. I'm not a lady's man, or much of a chivalrous knight, but I do not deny the pleasure of a batted eyelash. Traveling brings its own reward, and one of them is that after a long period in the wilderness, every girl is a ten! 

I made sure to fill my water flask, weed out any of my rations that may be rotting, flirt back at the pretty geisha girls and make sure I've got an accurate map of the region. Interestingly, the Elderly woman in the embroidered kimono. She greeted me politely, and I reciprocated. A little respect to your elders gets you very far in Japan. She asked me what my purpose was, and where I was going. I liked that, I'm not interested in who I am. I am the Traveler. That's not my name, and I'm not a metaphor. I'm just travelling. I told her of Koshi, and where I would go after. She nodded wisely, and warned me of the boars, as had everyone else. I told her that the only reason to visit Koshi was to brave the boars and dip in the waters I'd find. She grinned and gave me a blessing. I thanked her, and she dismissed me. She waved me away, casually. I was another Traveler, and there would be more after. I think I answered well though. When elderly women come up randomly and ask you piercing questions about you and your purpose in life, sarcasm is not your friend, and may end up getting you eaten. 

While I wasn't able to find the springs on the map, I was able to talk to a wood-cutter, who was able to show me a path, and where, approximately, the springs were. I thanked him, and started my climb. The woods were thick, and quite full of leaves. The autumn weather had come in, but the leaves were not more than orange tinged. One or two leaves may have fallen as I climbed, helping myself by the trees or my staff. I was ever grateful for my boots, which kept me from tripping or hurt myself. The scents were crisp, and I was a little chilled. There was that sense of otherness. Knowing I was entering some sacred ground, but not, as I had in the past, as an intruder, but rather, some thing had stated I was worthy to come this far. 

I heard animals with every step. Pigs and boars would pass far in front of me so that I only caught them as shadows. Birds sang well, but it was as they rested from their travels south. I could not understand them, sadly, those days and magical bird speaking items were long gone. I thought they sang of winter and the coming spring. They missed the warmth, but would enjoy it in the future. As went deeper, I found the leaves turning faster and faster to orange, as Koshi stood alone, and winter winds afflicted the top more than the bottom. 

After a long walk, some two hours, I came to the springs. I had tracked up the side, then to the west until I found them. They were also covered by the trees, with great boles smooth as silver. The others were normal, brown with cracks one usually associates with trees. Great circles of waters sat between those silver trees. They were clear, with orange leaves floating in them. The bottoms were like crystal, with smooth pebbles of many colors, but all of them dark. The bits that were crystalline looked to be Quartz and maybe bits of metal I could not name, but were shined as if they had their own light, as crystals. Above all and between the trees was a mist, I could not see the other end, but it was still 

Looking around, I found a sheltered copse, and there, I put my stuff down, and stripped. The clothing, boots and so on, I hid from the animals on a broken branch. I took to the pool I found the biggest and the hottest, and dipped in. It was hot, it was fantastic, it was the best hot spring I had, and indeed, ever will. The minerals immediately went to work, and my skin felt thick and massaged, stronger. I felt something ancient stirring in me. I am a Northern European, nearly Aryan but my brown hair and great red, brown and black beard. Those Scottish genes really working the beard angle, I loved it. And indeed, I began to sing. I learned a lot of songs to sing as I traveled. Ipods and solar cells are nice, but they are weight and they break easily on the long road, or after one freak rainstorm. 

So,  _Caledonia_ , by Robert Burns. I sang it strongly, but I can't hold much of a damn tune. I didn't sing in public. 

There was on a time, but old Time was then young,   
   That brave Caledonia, the chief of her line,   
From some of your northern deities sprung   
   (Who knows not that brave Caledonia's divine?)   
From Tweed to the Orcades was her domain,   
   To hunt, or to pasture, or do what she would.   
Her heav'nly relations there fixed her reign,   
   And pledg'd her their godheads to warrant it good.

A lambkin in peace but a lion in war,   
   The pride of her kindred the heroine grew.   
Her grandsire, old Odin, triumphantly swore:-   
   'Whoe'er shall provoke thee, th' encounter shall rue!   
With tillage or pasture at times she would sport,   
   To feed her fair flocks by her green rustling corn;   
But chiefly the woods were her fav'rite resort,   
   Her darling amusement the hounds and the horn,

Long quiet she reign'd, till thitherward steers   
   A flight of bold eagles from Adria's strand,   
Repeated, successive, for many long years,   
bold eagles from Adria's strandThey darken'd the air, and they plunder'd the land,   
Their pounces were murder, and horror their cry;   
   They'd conquer'd and ravag'd a world beside.   
She took to her hills, and her arrows let fly-   
   The daring invaders, they fled or they died!

The Cameleon-Savage disturb'd her repose,   
   With tumult, disquiet, rebellion, and strife,   
Provok'd beyond bearing, at last she arose,   
   And robb'd him at once of his hopes and his life.   
The Anglian lion, the terror of France,   
   Oft, prowling, ensanguin'd the Tweed's silver flood,   
But, taught by the bright Caledonian lance,   
   He learned to fear in his own native wood.

The fell Harpy-raven took wing from the north   
   The scourge of the seas, and the dread of the shore;   
The Wild Scandinavian Boar issued forth   
   To wanton in carnage and wallow in gore;   
O'er countries and kingdoms their fury prevail,   
   No arts could appease them, no arms could repel;   
But brave Caledonia in vain they assail'd   
   As Largs well can witness, and Loncartie tell.

Thus bold, independent, unconquer'd, and free,   
   Her bright course of glory for ever shall run,   
For brave Caledonia immortal must be,   
   I'll prove it from Euclid as clear as the sun:   
Rectangle-triangle, the figure we'll chuse,   
   The upright is Chance, and old Time is the Base.   
But brave Caledonia's the hypothenuse;   
   Then, ergo, she'll match them, and match them always!

 

At the end of my song, I had soaked a while. I'm actually white-washing it. I think that I repeated the third verses twice, and at the second and fifth verses rather than... well. It was nice. 

After the song and a bit of silence as I felt what surely were the spirits of the war-loving dead ancestors of my family infesting my body, a giant came out of the mists. I heard him coming, a long way away, but I didn't react. Reacting is fear. A villain would sneak up on me. A nervous or fearful person would simply wait until I leave. This person didn't care one fig for what I could do to him, and by the weight he was bigger than me. Travel enough and you start to figure out the human body.

The figure was indeed a giant. He was at least eight feet tall. He was very large, with muscles covered in fat, and a belly that protruded quite far past his belt. He was heavily scarred, but they were old scars, and faded. His forehead had a criss-cross of scars. His cheeks were puffy and helped hide his eyes, which were beady enough to begin with. He had a grin, however, and was as naked as I was. He dipped into the pool I was in, as it was the one most able to hold his great bulk. Even then, his toes could have reached my own outstretched foot if he bothered. The pool was, now that I had to measure it, about twenty feet in diameter. His teeth were far too big. 

"Ah, but that was a fine song." His Japanese was rustic, and ancient. "To be sure, it is not from these hills."

"You have a good ear, sir, it is from Scotland, a land north of England."

"Scotland. I've heard of it. Are they as fierce as they use to be? Some of my kin had dealings with them some century ago."

"Ah, they have been slumbering, but they awaken. I have been there a year ago, and they are getting lively. I got in some fights over my distaste of their sport, and that I loved the drink of their enemies, gin, than I did their scotch."

The giant laughed. I was very envious of his mustache. It bushed out as if he had attached long bristled paintbrushes to his face. They were quite black and quite full. "Good good, let them be more fierce then! This world has been quiet far too long. Not a single man has come here in fifty years, or more. I was but a piglet, and my father dealt with him."

I gestured. "You live in these mountains? I was impressed by their beauty." 

He nodded. "Indeed, and thank you. My family has been living here before the Nippon began to colonize the hills. It was sometime after the flood, I think, when this world was cleansed."

Now this interested me, the history of family is a passion. "You have a history going back that far?"

"No no, we simply have the legend we came after a flood, but never from where or how. But that is nothing. We will be here until these mountains fall to time. What do we care if there was a flood? That was but once, and the seasons continue without halt. To be sure, the worthy sun and moon continue as well."

This continued for a time. His name was Lord Inoshishi, as his father was and his father and his father and so on. He was lord of the mountain and all those upon it. He had decided, since I was not scared of the boars and other animals, as well as how I answered the questions the old woman, who was a relative of some kind to him, and in constant contact, that I was allowed on his land, so long as I was peaceable, and so I was not bothered by any of the animals. "I must be careful in this age. Unlike my Grandfather's time, when thousands of men dipped themselves into these springs and drank cups of brotherhood with my ancestors. So few have a warrior's spirit, or a spirit like yours, which must see wonders, and has seen more than any average man. Truly, you must have stories to tell!" 

I affirmed that I did, and I entertained him with a couple of tales. The traditional: _The Great Black Cat and 13 Big Red_   _Ones._ which is about the devil as a cat trying to eat a man who skipped church, from Scotland. And a story of something that happened to me, when I was in the forests between Tokyo and Kyoto, and had to escape a spider woman, who had several enraptured and envenomed men as minions, who attempted to kidnap guys like me, who wandered alone. He laughed as I told the part of the story where I waited in a ceiling bar, and as each minion entered a room and saw his fellows, laid out unconscious, I would bash them in the head. He nodded as I described the immolation of the spider woman, which he called a Tsuchigumo. "Yes yes a fitting end for such a foul creature. I spent much of my time, when I became Lord of Koshi, driving out such foul beasts. They bring negative attention these days. They went north, so once you leave my lands, beware." I thanked him.  _  
_

He continued. "I like you, Traveler, will you come to my halls, and drink with me? I think, also, I should like to test your strength. I can tell that above normal men, you may give me some exercise."

I agreed. When the Lord of a Mountain, and possible boar god, asks such things of you, you might as well. Should this have been a European fairy, I would have politely declined, as time is weird for the European Fey, and I could be tricked, trapped or worse, poisoned. But Japanese spirits are different, and the rules I was operating on was that these creatures act as themselves. They may have acted evilly, properly or honorably, but whatever deceit is a means to an end. My experience with the Tsuchigumo taught me that evil fey in Japan are sickly sweet, like a rotted lotus. I did not smell such in his behavior. Even if it was a trap, I could fight my way out. 

I left the pool, after he did, and he waited as I dried myself and put my clothes and backpack on. Cheese was where I left it, and the staff as well. He had put on a belt and loin cloth such as Sumo Wrestler's wear, with a great, loose kimono that had traditional pink peony flowers embroidered onto the white linen. One shoulder was bare, and he relaxed his right arm in the sling that resulted. We walked together, and he told me stories of fights, that his family had joined in with such and such a lord. That they had slaughtered many, their fortunes and losses and feats. He showed me, as we walked up an animal path, a graveyard, ancient and worn, that held many of his ancestry. 

We eventually came to Koshi Hall, a building that was cunningly hidden in the mountain. Trees hid a cave that protruded with stone masonry, that, if you were not searching for it, you would miss as nothing but some forgotten shrine and unimportant. Outside, though, many large bodied, looking to be of the same line as Lord Inoshishi. They were boisterous and loud. As soon as came into the small clearing, several children ran up and began to demand answers, my name, and candy. One tried to grab me, but I rapped the cheeky boy's hand with my staff. Inoshishi laughed, and swatted the child away. Several older members came along and soon I was being introduced to various family members. Almost one hundred family members. I'm not going to go into their names, but I'll mention them when important.

Now, After a time, Inoshishi offered to wrestle with me. Now, I had been bolstered by the song, the weird boost I was getting from the pools and all this attention. Something in spirit demanded a contest, and I accepted. I was perfectly fine with it. I am still perfectly fine with it. I am a six foot one three hundred (even after all my travels, all the fat turned to muscle. To my angst.) pound man who hasn't had a proper contest in a while, except against nature. 

My positive response was met with celebrations, and I found myself brought to a highly lit arena in the mountain itself. It was about fifteen feet in diameter. I was wearing sumo duds and was completely naked. We both agreed that head hits and strikes were off limits. He was not to pull my beard and I would not grasp his cheeks, so on. Before we began, we were both given a saucer full of a strong alcoholic liquid. "Behold, BOAR-DRAUGHT. The most potent liquor in all Hokkaido! Drink it with me and be my brother!"

"AYE" He and I drank it down. I was becoming fond of Lord Inoshishi. Besides, we were going to fight. If we were brothers, well, who ever heard of a brother that pulled punches? We took a moment, in our walk, he had described certain principles of Sumo, which he was passionate about. The Draught took a second, but it was like lightning. My muscles pulsed with fire. I felt like I could take on the world, or, at least, a Lord of the Mountain. Inoshishi had turned all red. His mustache was MORE bristly and his eyes flashed red. I shouted a challenge, and so did he. 

"BEST OF THREE!" We clashed. Both our bodies slapped together in a force and a fury. Both attempted to grasp the other, but we were still a little wet from both our dips and slipped before getting grasped. We pushed against one another. I tried to get under him for a body flip, but he got a good touch on me, and a found myself in the air. He shoulder checked me, and I went flying. My chest hurt, but I got back up with the assistance of some watchers. I laughed and beat my chest. He laughs and beat his chest as well. 

I charged forward. Quickly, I grasped him under the belt and began to heave. He was easily five hundred pounds, but boar-draught removed all my mental limits. I had traveled lengthways up Japan on foot dammit! I was the strongest human walking this land! I could flip this Lord of the Mountain. And I did. His feet left the ground. He shouted in alarm and began to try and break my grip. It was too late, my lightning raid had given me a second. I tossed him behind me like a caber. He roared as he flew out the ring. Now, we were even! He came back. "ho! What a toss! I do not think I have been unfooted in such a way for two decades! COME!" And he got into the ring again. 

He and I circled each other, warily. We had both enjoyed the fury of our strength, and while eager, neither of us wanted to lose. He struck first, an open palm shot out and tried to catch me. I had seen the shifting of his feet and expected it. I went under and tried another flip. However, I could not overcome his center of gravity, and he had time to smash me with his left hand. I flew, but kept inside the small ring. I go back in with a shout. I must admit that I had forgotten that open-handed strikes are legal. 

I got in, under his guard and began softening him up. I struck at his stomach three times and moved to his back as he tried to grasp me. So began a dance. He tried to get me. I jumped away, striking at him. I knew I couldn't wear him out before I did, but I still looked for any opening. Finally, I caused him to step too close to the ring's edge.

I charged him. I grasped him by his Sumo-loin cloth and attempted to toss him like a caber. I failed. It was a feint, and he grasped me in turn and flipped me up I grasped on of his great trunk like arms. He laughed and simply started to bash me on the ground outside the circle until I let go, and was counted out. I got up laughing and clasped his hand. We shook, then bowed. 

I had, as you imagined, broken ribs in the various tossings I experienced as Lord Inoshishi. For his part, he was severely bruised, and, despite coming the best of it, walked with a limp, as his ankle was quite cracked, and at risk of breaking even when standing . We both said our injuries were not that bad, but hey, maybe we should wait a bit before our next fight. Inoshishi offered me to stay the winter and recover. I accepted. 

Over the winter, my ribs healed fast, something I took down to the Boar-draught, which was drunk with every meal. The winter Mount Koshi was quite beautiful. Without the leaves, the trees were stark and sharp. When the sun was just right, all the area was white and all the trees were black, such that you could see every detail in such beauty. Lord Inoshishi, his family and I spent long hours in the pools, in the forests doing such chores as caretakers of land must do. I spent the time hauling logs, ensuring that the animals were taken care of and assisting with errand running for those of Inoshishi's family to the township below Koshi. 

I enjoyed my time among Lord Inoshishi's family. However, once spring came, I told Inoshishi I had to leave. I was a wandering man, and a traveler. The women in Inoshishi's camp were lovely, but I couldn't stay yet. There's nothing to hold me, and I felt the call that I could not stop yet.

He nodded his head. He knew this was coming, even before I felt it. With the spring buds coming out and the snow barely beginning to thaw, he saw me off. We drank the ancient brew, Boar-Draught, one more time, and we swore eternal brotherhood. That I would help boars who requested aid by his name, and by his name, they would aid me. I'll admit, I wasn't entirely sure if I would ever need to do anything about that oath, but I never broke it. 

As I left opposite the Township of Koshi, I saw the animals waking. Birds sang. Boars grunted. Foxes gave out strange barking laughter. Springs were set free from ice. And through out all this noise I heard the earth thaw and warm. I went north, unsure what adventure I would enjoy in the future, but ever on the lookout. 


	2. Winter's Last Freeze

It was, with heavy heart, that I departed the holds of Lord Inoshishi. He nearly wept, since he and I became as close as brothers, but we drank Boar Draught, this particular vintage laid down by ancestors one thousand years old, a most legendary drink. Any tears was from its potency, which nearly put me on my haunches, and Lord Inoshishi began a trembling. After we all recovered, we parted. I headed north, promising that I should visit at least once more. I wanted to dip into the springs and spar once more with the mountain lord before I left Japan, perhaps forever. 

Such as it was, I still had a wandering soul. They knew I must leave or be unhappy. I knew I must leave or be unhappy. When one's feet itches, it is better to satisfy it than to let it fester. This world is small, but only digitally, and to tread it is a noble calling!

The trees were budding. Flowers were budding. Even though I do not suffer overmuch from allergies, the amount of plant matter flowing through the air certainly caused plenty of sneezes. Of course, there was still a lot of bad weather. Spring showers are the rule, rather than the exception, and I had to keep myself dry at many intervals. Often, I dove into various shrines or temples to prevent myself and my gear from being soaked. 

These shrines were mostly abandoned. I was not following a road, but rather a very ancient path shown to me by the Lord of Boars. It had been tread only by animals for one hundred years, but many humans had passed by. Every mile or ten there was some sort of shrine to some animal deity. Either the same deity in many forms on just one each representing a different gender or species of animals, so I assume. What legends there were were written in an archaic form of Kanji, which I could not read. There were no sacrifices, but many still had incense in their lavers, protected from the elements in myriad cunning ways.

I was respectful, but not worshipful. I serve the one true God, and am thus immune to many different curses and the affect of such naturalistic spirits. I was respectful because man had been respectful, and who knows what champion or destruction they would raise up for me if I defiled their holy places? I would be fine, but it is a plotline I did not care to follow.

Thus I traveled. For days. I left Mount Koshi February. It was still cold, but I was wearing the winter cloths given to me my Lord Inoshishi. These were leather and fur of high quality. Cunningly wrought in such a way that I could not get wet standing in the rain, unless I lifted the hood from me, or be cold, unless terrible winds assailed me, and they did. I was in no danger, and the winds usually brought warmer rain. My home climate can best be described as miserable for most of the year, with certain days being perfect. This was nothing to me. 

So I went. As time passed, I noted that more and more of the landscape was covered in snow and ice. The rain being too cold to melt, yet too hot to freeze. The ice was building up around the road and the trees, but they did not affect it directly, nor in certain points. You could see round or irregular shaped patches in the dirt where I judged that the underground heating had done some work and that the ice could not take hold. I camped in these. They were wet and muddy, more often than not, but warmer, and my camping gear was proofed against mud, and my boots as well.

Thus I was taken to march, and I began to smell, on those long, long breezes so faint as to be a whisper, of the northern ocean.  This was not the goal of my route, as I planned to circumnavigate the islands in total. Thus heartened, I pressed on. 

As I traveled, I came across a small town. I did not rightly know the name, honestly. I did not come in from a 'signed' road. I found this one memorable because it was still covered in snow. The people went about in the ornate winter clothes of the Japanese. These depicted, as some sort of town theme I never figured, deer. Men wore sigils and designs of male bucks, either jousting, with families or growing up, depending on their station. One, the mayor, depicted a buck as a king, with a crown and facing rampant, as the old European heraldry was wont to do. 

I found a food cart, and ordered some food, Soba, a light buckwheat noodle dish served hot in that area. It had been a month, and I had had no proper cooked meal since Mount Koshi. I spoke with the cook thusly. As ever, I am translating the Japanese for you. 

"Hey cooky, This is good Soba. What is with all this snow?"

"Thank you thank you. It is unknown. It is only affecting those around this valley, to the sea coast twenty miles behind us. The weather man said something about el Nino, from that Mexico place. But I don't know."

"Huh, El Nino is strong this year, but I think you got another thought."

"Traveler, I detect you are a Westerner, and would not understand our ways. But I think that something has happened to offend one of the spirits of the land. We did have one of our older priests die this winter. Bad omen. Hrm."

Deciding that this was all I would get this time, I amused him with a story about myself being chased by a deer when I first traveled through an Osakan estate. He gave me a free slice or two of pork loin in my soba for my trouble. 

He was doing this more to get his exercise than actually sell Soba, though, besides myself there were enough patrons that he was kept busy. At the end of it, though, we drank a little sake together, as he told me of the fortunes of the town during the old Samurai periods. They were lucky enough to be forgotten, and so missed some of WWII, not even being bombed by the Americans. I left afterwards, but he grabbed me, and said. "Ah, Traveler, there is an inn just outside of town, if you follow this street. My grandfather's knee spoke of snow, and I feel the chill. Go down to the inn. They know me, so tell them I sent you, and you should receive a discount. Besides, it will protect you from this cold. It killed our old priest, you know." I thanked him, and left towards the inn. 

The street was pre-modern. The road itself was some sort of asphalt, but the sidewalks were stone, and there were trees along the boulevard, which was by no means a major street. Even as I walked the snow began to fall. It obliterated the houses, which were old styles, with crenelated roofs with shingles and white washed walls. Some more modern buildings, houses in a western style. I was the only traveler now. The snow came down harder.

I heard a low moan. It cut through the wind. I thought it was a cry for help or maybe a song, but then I smelled it. Sickly sweetness. Once you smell the rot of a Tsuchigumo, you never forget it. I hurried down the street. I felt a malevolent presence on me, and I cried out, in challenge and in fear. These things had the body and head of a woman but the bottom half of a spider. They are cruel, and can enrapture men as a snake hypnotizes its prey. It is sexually attractive, and so only great force of will can tear a man from it. 

I tripped over a sign. In my panic, I had fallen over the sign to the inn! I saw a lantern ahead of me and found the path, and then the door. I banged on it. An elderly gentleman in a male's kimono opened it for me, and I came in. 

I cried out. "Ah! Thank you grandfather, I was nearly had by the cold!"

He nodded solemnly. "The Soba seller called me and said you would be coming, and good thing he did! This is storm neither for man nor beast. My wife has been feeling dreadful things in the wind, and so I waited for you, in case you would be in need." He spoke archaically, and this is the best translation. Everyone did, in that town, but he was very pronounced. I noted, in this hand, he held a heavy walking stick like a club.

"Thank you, Grandfather. I heard a low moan, and smelt something terrible. I am glad you were there for me."

An elderly woman came out with some tea, and soon we were warmed through. The inn was old. Three hundred years old, the grandfather told me, and was part of a temple on a nearby mountain. They had become wealthy during the end of the reign of such and such a Tokugawa and so moved closer to the mountain shrines they worshipped and built a grander temple, leaving the guest quarters to his  family. On the walls were old scrolls and wall hangings. Statues from the old temple were at every hallway and even the windows held intricate lattice work, should they have been opened. The elderly couple retired and showed me a room they rented to me at good price, besides that, I had access to a hotspring, which I was eager to try.

I washed myself of the dust of my travels, and sought it out. While the old man were the one who ran the Inn, his son handled the day to day, and his wife the food. They guided me and dined with me. Always, I could swear, I smelt a whiff, a tang of the Tsuchigumo. Ever, I turned the talk to stories of the land and any monsters it may hide, so to get an answer. They laughed, being not very superstitious, and merely told me of the Yoki-onna, snow women, who supposedly came about to steal away naughty children, or be the cause of lover's quarrels. 

Unsatisfied, I kept up good conversation. Learning to be conversant and be a pleasure to talk to is a skill. Not all have it at birth, but all could learn it, and it gets you friends. Thus, I kept myself the first night. But, every few hours, I woke from my futon, and heard the faintest skittering. 

The second day began with snow and was likely to end as such. While not as hard a snow as the day before, the cold was bitterer, and I found myself unable to go outside, but from my own fears of being hunted by a Tsuchigumo, and the grandfather insisting I stay. I did chores to ease their burden, and at night, visited the hotspring, which was in the center of the inn. This Inn was in the shape of a giant 'U' The top gap filled with the hotspring, a garden below. While there was a wicker fence, the back opened to dense forest, denser than what I came through. I kept a weather eye out, and by no means did I ever abandon the Monk's Staff or Chiisagatana, even if they inconvenienced me. I could see faint movement far away. Like a dense peak of snow whispering across the trees, not above, but on the ground. It would only move if it thought I was not moving, but I was always looking, so it moved anyway. It was unnerving.

This time I ate alone, as the husband and wife were staying at a friend's house. Again, I awoke to the faintest of scuttling, as if there was a ninja-rat in the walls or on the roof. 

The third day, the same. I went to the hotspring again. This time there was a woman, white as the driven snow, sitting in the pool on the end next to the forest. I decided to soak anyway. I needed some way to deal the Tsuchigumo. I could not just ignore her and wait for her to ambush me on the road. This was obviously one of the Yoki-onna which I was told about earlier. Maybe. Hopefully it wasn't the Tsuchigumo in disguise. I kept the Chiisaigatana beside me on my right, and the monkstaff at my left. There were ledges, so neither were in any danger of the water, but also could not be removed without my knowledge.

"Greetings." I said, gently, but firmly. 

Her manner was a little pained. She acted as if she enjoyed it, but I could tell she did not. She waved at me. I waved back. She came over. 

"What a lovely evening to sit and soak at the pool, yes?" She spoke haltingly, and cast worried looks at me. I had come armed. She had a right to fear. I would not hesitate to pierce her pretty breast should she attempt to hurt me. Besides, I would discover later that all mystical creatures, yokai and oni, can smell the boar draught if they fear the boars. 

"It is. These are fine, and I've been enjoying them these last few nights. I like the juxtaposition of the snow and warmth."

She looked down, embarrassed, then up, further embarrassed. You don't wear trunks in a hotspring. "I have been watching you. The family that takes care of this inn are not overly-fond of hotsprings, so I often sneak in to take a dip in such weather." She was naked, herself, but preserved her modesty through a hand across her nipples. I ogled her, I had been a month without looking at any available woman, it was like a feast. She was quite beautiful, but very pale. We talked about the times and the snow.

She was astounded that I had been to Mount Koshi, and that I had wrestled with Lord Inoshishi. Then I told her a story of how I killed the Tsuchigumo down south. She was quite amazed at me, and came closer at every tale. Finally, she was right next to me such that our thighs touched. I touched her chin, and brought her face to mine in a kiss she did not resist.

It was like kissing ice. Soft, movable slush but unmoving. I grasped her side and brought her close. I nibbled her ear and whispered. "The Tsuchigumo, does she watch us." We made obscene movements, but I kept a hand close to the chiisagatana. 

She had been nuzzling my head. She moved her own mouth to my ear, kissing it gently. "Yes, yes. She has threatened me and my sisters. She knows you killed her sister last year, and has tracked you far." 

"Meet me here again later, as if in a lover's tryst, and I will slay her."

She kissed me again, and I felt her breath, cold as night, fill my lungs. I coughed. It is in times like these, I adopt 'dumb American' accents and thus deceive who I wish. "What a woman!" I cried out.

She pulled away and said. "Remember, just before midnight!" Her smile was cold, but genuine. Her ice eyes, which were white, with black pupils and iceblue iris, sparkled.

I stayed a bit, until I was able to come out, then returned to my room, weapons in hand. I then spent time in prayer, and prepared myself for my second bout with a Tsuchigumo. This was not as before, when I used stealth, and the beast had an army of minions. This thing was hunting me, and, as soon as we would meet, it would be kill or be killed. No quarter. There was not a thought in my mind that we could find some common ground. I killed her sister, she would try to kill me. Try. 

I wore the cloaks given to me by Lord Inoshishi as well as several protective layers of clothing. Around my neck, I placed a metal band, as Tsuchigumo favor nooses. This was part of the cloaks mentioned previously, and used to keep them together in cold weather. I placed my Chiisagatana at my back, and in my hand I kept my staff. Thus prepared, I went out at the appointed hour. 

There was silence. The storm had abated somewhat, being only soft snowfall, maybe an inch the entire night, considering there would be little melting. The moon was giving more light than it should, but I couldn't think on that at the time. I saw the Yoki-onna near the hotspring. She was dressed in fox furs and white silk, no color, so that I was not sure I was not looking at a snow-woman. I entered from the far exit, so that she saw me. I kept on the veranda, looking for a sign. I saw a brief, almost unnoticeable upturn of the head. Above then, as I expected. 

I walked forward. I had to spring the trap, or else the Tsuchigumo would escape, and hunt me again. 

The noose came down, but my cloaks protected me. She wrenched me up, attempting to choke me. She jumped down with a screech, attempting to lift me higher, but she came to close. In a flash I pulled the chiisagatana out and plunged it into her human shoulder. I got a good look at her. She was human, beautifully so, voluptuous breasts, pink nipples, an hourglass figure, slender arms and a wonderful neckline. Her face was twisted with hate and her hair flew about everywhere. Below the waist was spider, lots of spider. I saw eight legs ending in points and a black cephalo-thorax with zebra stripes. There were spikes at every joint and her armor was thick. While the upper body was all beauty and elegance, this was ugly, animalistic and totemic. I felt no desire as I plunged the large knife in. 

She screamed and released the cord around my neck. I pulled the dagger out and charged as she stumbled back, hissing that the yoki-onna should help her. The snow woman just stood there. She came at me again, even as I attacked. She got under my cloak and bit my left shoulder, her teeth hidden, but much larger and tipped in paralytic poison. I roared and stabbed many times into her naked back. She had to pull away, because even such poison as she had could not easily overcome one who could drink boar draught with the Lord of the Koshi Boars!

Bleeding heavily she backed slowly away and we watched each other. I could feel the venom circulate in my system, and knew that time was not on my side. As we feinted and attacked, it got colder. Soon, it was so cold I could not feel my hands, and felt ice around the wound given to me. The Tsuchigumo could feel it as well and she was slowing down. I thought I could, with a little luck, charge forward and catch her, but I was stopped. Five other women walked out of the forest, dressed alike to their sister with fox-fur and silk. The cold passed from freezing to my nerves stopped bothering to keep track. The beastly woman looked around her. 

Snow burst out of the sky in a tornado and fell upon the Tsuchigumo. She screamed as the air froze around her. Soon, she stopped thrashing. Ice had formed around her, and not a single finger twitched. Her eyes had detonated in the cold, leaving bloody bits, but I felt she was still alive. The Yoki-onna came to me and pressed the staff into my hand. My unwilling fingers clutched it. I moved forward. I could barely move, but as I did, more blood circulated, and my body produced heat. So I raised the staff above my head. I could tell the beastly woman was aware of me, as I approached. I brought the staff down with what strength I could down on the evil thing. She exploded, frozen so completely that such a tap undid her. I smashed her to pieces, not keeping any chunk whole that was more than a head. 

I nearly fell after this task, but then I felt warm, human hands kept me up. It was the old man and his wife, they had heard the screams. I fell unconscious.

I woke up in a futon. A priest, Shinto, I later discovered, was chanting over me with his rosary of large, teak beads. He wore shrine clothes, and had a face that seemed carved from granite. Now, his face was scrunched in concentration as he murmured. I coughed a couple times and he looked up, relieved. He had been praying these last two hours. The poison in me had a magical element, that could only be countered by great strength or a purifying ritual that he performed. There was much pungent incense, and I detected spices which I knew resisted bacteria and other harmful dangers. I thanked him. 

He told me that the Yoki-Onna had departed, and left a share of gold and a talisman. The gold I left to the priest and the elderly innkeepers as payment. The talisman I kept. It was a few locks of hair ensconced in a crystal. I could feel the coldness ensconced in it. There were wards and runes around it. There were, at the top and the bottom, golden caps. The top one looped around a chain of silver that I would later find to be unbreakable. The priest accepted the donation and the elderly innkeeper rejoiced in the gift. 

I stayed the week, recovering. Several times I spoke to the priest and drank the herbs he brought. I was strong enough to leave on the seventh day. I could walk about day one, but travelling was beyond me. I exercised by cutting wood, doing a little cooking and other tasks. The priest brought some colleagues and did a complex purification ritual against the evil spirits that may be there, lingering. Of course, the inn was bustling after all that action, though they kept it quiet about what happened. 

Such things should be kept quiet. No one not-crazy will ever believe my stories, but if someone would produce the body of a Tsuchigumo or interview on CNN a Yoki-Onna, it would confuse things, even retard scientific advancement, as many would turn aside to attempt magic or commune with faeries, destroying them in the process. The attentions of humans are anathema to most of them, and they are hostile to us. There is no point in it, unless you are like me, a traveler. 

I left the town towards the sea. The snow melted. The sun was warm. The cloaks I arranged loosely around me so I could feel the cool breeze. I'm a hotblooded man. A cool breeze is just fantastic. 


	3. The Oni of the Spring Bamboo Forest

I had traveled all summer down the island of Honshu. It is the greatest of the four man islands, and, while the island of Hokkaido is the most rural, there are still immense fields and forests, of bamboo, oaks and others, such that one may forget that Tokyo is just an hour's drive away, or that the bullet train passes through past that hill. 

The sun is intense, more yellow than the one in America, and thanks to my proximity to the rice fields, humid. The fields were full of buzzing insects, at such a rate that they moved as clouds over the field, eating what they will. The farmers would not come out for fear of disease, or that they would suck them dry, to the bone. Occasionally, I saw a plane, or a balloon float over the great agricultural expanses at their own pace. You could hear them cut the buzz with their hum, which reverberated in the local atmosphere. 

I kept to the roads myself. I'm not fond of insects. Part of it has to do with killing two Tsuchigumos, and the other part is I don't like them. The humidity was intense as well. I'm no stranger to humidity. I come from a place where the humidity is 100% during the summer and only squall lines to relieve it. And no, I don't live so deep in the south that there are still living rebels fighting the good fight. I hated this humidity. I couldn't just go inside. It wasn't so bad last year, as I took a few detours through a mountainous region, that was rendered cool by the forests surrounding them. This was the southern facing side. Humidity pooled in the valleys as if they, themselves were lakes or rivers, except moving so slowly as to be breathable sometimes. 

Sure, there was a cool breeze sometimes, but this was driving me crazy! Crazier! There was a humming and a buzzing and I had to sit down before I fell over. The wound the Tsuchigumo last gave me, though healed, ached in all bad weather. My feet hurt. I wanted a drink. Fortunately, relief was incoming.  

I found a sitting place. Behind me was a thick bamboo forest. It was so full of green shoots and stalks that I could not see but ten feet ahead, if that, before it became impenetrable. I had chosen this route because I wanted to see this Japanese bamboo, but the paths through it were north of where I came up, and would be too long to head up then through then out. I needed to do another circumnavigation of the islands before heading up to Mount Koshi, for another winter, and time, while generous, wasn't allowing for such a detour. 

This bamboo forest was huge. I couldn't see ten feet in but it was over two hundred miles at its widest point, and twice as long. This strange oval bamboo wall was part of some sort of nature preserve. A great monastery was rumored to be hidden within, and, of course, the ruins of armies and castles and whatever treasures you can imagine could also be found. You could also starve to death trying to leave it. You couldn't travel in a straight line at all, and despite the one monastery, there was no other living habitations. 

This sitting place was an overhang carved into a cliff, and extended by some stone, cunningly worked to be a part of the cliff line. The wall of stone was not as dramatic as 'cliff' might indicate, it was climbable, and maybe extended nine feet at its tallest. So I sat there, and pressed the cool stone the Yoki-Onna gave me to my neck and head. I called down blessings on them once again. The crystal, clear blue, with six hairs suspended inside, and gold runes around it,  remained cool no matter what, so that even in this hot summer, I could find some relief. I drank of my water sparingly, as it would be a while before I could get some fresh water. No town was in two day's march. I spent time, relaxing, tossing my chiisagatana, a long knife like a miniature katana, in my hand. I had gotten good, and when I had to spend hours in some abandoned shack at night or in the rain, I got good at throwing it, and other tricks.

Thus relieved, I began to prepare myself to leave the shade and keep walking, but I heard a sound. This was a human sound, cutting under the buzzing, waving insects and the far off aerial vehicles. Intrigued, but wary, I looked for the sound's source. Finding where it was loudest, I scrambled up the cliff. A few seconds into the bamboo forest, first orienting myself by compass so I wouldn't be TOO lost, I found the source. It was a farrow, as the young boars are called. 

The poor thing was a mess. Great tears wept from the farrow's eyes. It's trunk heaved up and down in a jagged and uneven fashion. Foam was at the child's mouth and though the eyes wept, they were wild and rolling. Sorrow, exhaustion and fear, all wrapped up in one little package. Remembering my time with Lord Inoshishi, I thought him to be a male, about a year old, ten, their's. 

"Hey, boy, why are you crying so?"

The young hog attempted to clamber to its feet, but the poor thing was disoriented, and only succeeded at flipping himself over onto his back. He squealed, legs pumping, for a minute, before quieting down. After a second, the panic left it, and defiance more noble to the boar kind, replaced it. "Ho! You think that you can simply walk up on me! I will gore you!" It's worth noting here that its tusks were but nubs, without any point. "I am the smallest of my clan, the Bamboo Brigands, only for being the youngest! I have six brothers bigger and hairier than me, and they will surely avenge me if you attack me!" And there was more of the same of this. I waited until he had quite exhausted himself. 

In a pause during which his lungs, promising to be great things, but quite small yet, drew in breath. "So why were you crying, then?"

And so he began weeping and wailing in a most piteous manner. I had, all this time, kept him on his back, but now that I was sure he wouldn't run away, I flipped him over. "Oh my ancestors! Oh gods of the mountain! The spirits of the bamboo! Lord Inoshishi! Oh, I am wretched, most wretched of beasts! My sister! My sister!" His little legs and hooves, at least, for a boar, attempted to reach up to cover the shame of his emotion, but could not reach. The tears flowed. I took a bowl and poured water in it. The farrow drank it down, gratefully. After a minute, the boar regained self-control. 

"Ah, young master! Forgive my sorrow! My heart is broken! Broken!" He had now sat up. He was a magnificent specimen of a young boar. Full of flesh, and yet unscarred, but for a crossed shape on his forehead. Young boars trained themselves to resist pain and concussions by ramming trees and each other. It was fetching on him. 

"What is it, then, young one? I am a sworn brother of Lord Inoshishi, and have drunk the Boar Draught. I am such as that I have won a single bout of three in sumo with him. I am sworn to help all boars that cry out in his name." Hope shined in the boar's eyes. "If there is something I can do to help you, I will."

"Please, young lord! I am beyond sorrow! I am called Ohaguro (black or snaggle tooth), by my family. My sister! My elder sister, who cares for me until I am a full man, has been captured by a pair of gluttonous oni! Surely, she is being devoured now. Oh my elder sister! Please! Help me find her, free her, and if necessary, bury her!" He buried his snout in the dirt, hindquarters up. "Please!"

"Can you lead me to her?"

"Yes sir! It is only a little ways away!"

"Alright. Lead me to them."

With a cry of gratitude, he leaped up. In a second, the two of us were running through the bamboo. The boar had to slow himself. I am not a small man, and the bamboo was close. I warned him to be quiet, and to stop when we were a few minutes walk away. I had him tell his story. 

"Ah, what a tale! Well, it's not much of a tale. My elder sister was tasked with myself to take some minor offerings that we deliver yearly to the monastery. A little gold and herbs for medicines and a few other things. The Medicines of the Monastery Hidden in the Bamboo are quite potent, and natural besides. On the way, we strayed from the path. The oni jumped us. They struck at me, and knocked me away. I... I ran, young lord. It was a coward's action. I left her to them. I repented though! And followed them to their hideaway. There, I tried to think of some stratagem or tactic that could allow me to free her. Then, as I thought to try something, the greater of the two oni, a giant red male, saw me, and fixed me with a stare so terrible, that I was stuck to the spot! It came towards me, and licked it's tusked chops to taste me. I was saved by my elder sister, who cried out to me to run. I did! I only stopped when I collapsed, but I remember the directions! The sun was in my eyes, and now it is at our backs. You know the rest, Young Lord."

"You did well to run and find me, let us avenge your kind elder sister! Or else save her." 

We went silent. There is a type of silence among men that only arises when action needs to be taken. An understanding. I knew that Ohaguro was still terrified. He was scared for himself, and for his elder sister. He did not want to die, but he was still leading me to the oni. I had not yet met an oni, but I knew they were likely to be nasty, probably wielding clubs and other nasty weapons. I would have to strike hard and fast, preferably with a great deal of surprise. They MIGHT be the type of oni that is a soul jar and made of clay. However, I wouldn't know. I didn't know.

I spent much of the time in prayer and preparation. I loosened my Chiisagatana and went through exercise motions. I tensed and untensed, stretching as needed. Eventually, we came to a bright clearing. Remembering my observations earlier, I pulled Ohaguro aside just out of sight. I placed my backpack and other objects around the ground. I memorized the location as best I could. This bamboo forest was trackless. I came in from the east, about twelve feet in. That's all I could get. 

I got down and sneaked a little closer. The bamboo was very high and thick in this part of the forest. When I passed it, I moved so that I could see, without being easily seen. There was a low, about fifteen feet tall, house, ramshackle, thought undoubtedly eastern in design. The gables were pointed in a savage break and the walls bulged outward. There was a splatter of blood on nearly surface. Bones littered what might be called a back yard. The chimney, lower than the roof, belched a most foul smoke that smelled of flesh. Everywhere else smelled of worse, rot and feces. There was a small lake that held brackish water, and a large, open top well that somehow let out fumes visible to the eye. Never, even in the first Tsuchigumo's hideaway or the slum I grew up in, which had hints of previous glories, had I looked on such desolation and evil. 

"Hist!" I dropped down. The door had creaked open, and out came the ugliest, most beastly, frightful, evil looking hag I have ever seen. She was about five feet tall, blue and horned. Her skin was cracked and gnarled. She was clothed in torn cloths, stolen from their victims. A grass skirt covered her legs. Her toes were clawed, and discolored by grime and fungus. There was blood on her hands and on her cloths. I winced at this, and Ohaguro whined, but kept silently. The she-oni's face was the worst of it. Her tusks were nubs, and black besides. Her cheeks bulged in a rictis grin and black teeth behind them. The tongue lolled out obscenely. The eyes burned like coals surrounding by black shadows. Her hair was pitch black, uncombed and bushy, thorn bush. 

She pulled up a pail full of the brackish water and went back inside. I was about to rise up and sneak up to her, when the door opened once again. The head stuck out once again and turn to the left and the right, sniffing. The nose, which was small and snubbed, wrinkled. She looked at my area, then another. It frowned, which merely meant she went from a repugnant smile to a repulsive grimace. The head receded. A terrible keening wail-song filled the air. I will not write it down. It was about how delicious humans were, and what cuts were best. Their culture is not worth preserving.

Slowly, and as quietly as I could, I moved forward. I kept a close eye on where I stepped and on that evil house. Soon, I had reached the door. I found the key hole and looked into it. The she-oni had her back to us. The song changed to one where she looked forward to eating humans. I would use the same words to describe fried chicken. I opened the door, slowly. She was turning a giant cauldron with a great ladle. She brought it to her lips and smacked them. I nearly puked. In the back I saw the pale, oliveish skin of a Japanese woman. There was a hand reaching up and out. It twitched.

"Ah what is this draft on my back?!" I swore and threw the door open. I charged forward and grasped her on ankles. The smell revolted me. I flipped her up into cauldron. I then held her there. She was terribly strong, and it was all I could do to hold on. She kicked and thrashed as I kept her in the boiling water. She kicked me several times in the shoulder and face, breaking my nose. Soon, though, she stopped struggling. I waited several minutes before I was sure she was dead. The smell of her boiling flesh caused me to puke, finally. That was really building up. 

I recovered and went to the body of the girl. She was naked, and horribly cut up. Her legs, freshly cut off, were tied up in tourniquets, to keep her from bleeding out. I opened her eyes, and they dilated. She groaned at me. "Do not worry, I'll get you out of here." I put my outer shirt over her, to preserve some decency. She was younger than I expected. 

"ELDER SISTER!" Ohaguro had been hiding, while the she-oni lived, and now bounded up. "Oh my elder sister!" The bleeding had been prevented by some herbal mud. Very unhygenic from the smell. I needed to get her to a hospital, or that monastery. SOMEWHERE. I moistened her lips with a cloth, and gave her a drink of my own water. "Ohaguro..." She groaned. The boar was weeping over her. "Oh my elder sister! I was a coward! A Coward! But I have brought someone back to save you!" 

I heard something coming through the bamboo. A deep bellowing came soon after. "Woman! I do not think that Boar exists! I couldn't find the little bastard. I didn't see him. You're seeing things again." It was a voice belonging to a giant. I looked around. The inside of the shack was ugly as the outside. Masks made of skulls covered one wall. There was a pallette, about ten feet tall, made of straw and bedbugs that I assumed they slept in. There was a wall of weapons, each hideous, dull and bloody. There was one! A huge katana. It was about six feet long and a two foot hilt besides. The hilt was inlaid with gold thread and a brass cap fitted the bottom of it. I lifted it from the wall. It was heavy, but still within my weight limit. I wouldn't wield this thing like a scalpel, but I'd use it like a damn guillotine. I think this was the kind of thing they used to cut off a horse's head. Yes, spears are better for that stuff. Just call it Japanese medieval sword weirdness. I'd loot a barrow for a damn claymore sword. 

I took the sword and the girl around back. I tried to treat her delicately. But it was more important to move in the now, than to stay and die in that rotten shack. There was a door open to the left of the butcher table and I took it. Not too soon, the husband of the woman I killed came in roaring. "WOMAN! I say WOMAN!" A pause. "AH! What has happened! I came in and surprised you? The bitch was so delicious that you just fell in, eh? DEAD! DEAD! How could this be!? Ah! The O-katana! Looters! The girl! She has been taken. Damn! DAMN YOU!" There was a sniffing. "Boar Draught! Some agent of Mount Koshi has discovered us! Well, I shall soon fix him!"

And so he charged out, breaking part of the shack in the process with his huge shoulders and horns. This oni was eight feet tall and red like blood. The face was a mask of fury, and everything ugly in the she-oni was doubled by this monster. His muscles knotted and unknotted. His eyes burned with fury and ulfire, which is the border color to infrared. His horns gave him a good extra foot of height. His hate was beyond anything I had felt before. I could tell by his black teeth that he could eat vegetables. He didn't. He killed humans for the taste. 

He roared. I placed the body of the girl down besides me, and went to meet him. I took stance with the blade curving behind me and my right foot in front. "SO! You are the one who killed my wife! Ah! More meat, and this I shall not cook! I'll rend you and eat you alive!" He charged. He had a great club, nearly five feet in length and two feet wide in his right hand. I dodged the blow and sliced at his head, which was exposed. His fore-arm guarded. The blade bit, but did not wound him over-much. I pulled the sword out, and swung it around me to strike at his chest. He brought up his club-arm again, and took the blow. He roared. 

I pulled out and danced back and away from the girl and the boar. The oni, roaring in pain, came after me. I charged around the shack and the oni came after me. "I'll eat you, and then the pig, and then the girl! She'll watch! HA HA HA!" I grimaced and nearly tripped over the boneyard. I slid on a femur and the oni came around. I thrust with the giant katana into his face. The oni dodged, but I still cut his cheek, near his eye. He swatted the blade away and then brought his club down to where I had been. I dodged the blow because the beast telegraphed. I knew, however, that this fight must end sooner than later, because his stamina would be greater than mine, and his strides would mean I would never be able to out run him. 

I struck him again, this time I went for the heart. The katana caught on the ribs. "Ha! Unlucky!" The oni grabbed the sword and wrenched it from my hand. He bent it to a circle. "A pity, I enjoyed killing the guy who wielded this!" I pulled out the chiisagatana and threw it. It hit the oni's eye. It was not a good hit, but it was a blinding one. Good! The Oni staggered and pulled out the blade. I noticed a streak of brown, and saw Ohaguro dash in among the oni's feet. I charged forward, and body-slammed the beast. Ohaguro tripped him, and the oni fell into the foul well. I ran to the oni's fallen club. The oni had recovered himself and began to climb up the shaft. 

The club was heavy, an easy two hundred pounds. "God give me strength!" I cried. I struggled to raise it to my shoulder. Even though I could shift bigger, weightier things, this is concentrated iron and stone in a four-five foot package. The oni was climbing up bit by bit. The head raised up, and I brought the club, with all my strength, down onto him. He roared, until I hit him, and I could feel his skull crunch. Brain burst out of his ears, and the handle of the club reached the nose of the beast. The oni was dead. 

I returned to Ohaguro, who was gasping. The boar had found his courage, and would pay the price. I picked him up. I ran over to the girl. I picked her up. I tapped the boar. "Brother Ohaguro! The monastery! Where is it?"

"Ah, friend, it is north of here, this side of the mountain! Oooh!" He groaned to himself. I could not be as gentle as I needed to be.  I pulled out my compass and got my bearings. I faced north and saw the tip of the mountain above the bamboo. I fancied I could see the smoke and smell a hint of the incense. I began to run. I am not a fast runner, and that bamboo did not help matters at all. I had my compass to direct me, and I was constantly correcting for the dodging in the forest I had to do. 

It took me hours. I couldn't keep up a running pace, but I powerwalked as much as possible. The heat followed me, and the wind caused my sweat to boil on my skin. The sun began to set, and I worried that I would miss it in the dark. The shadows lengthened, and out of them, I could see eyes. I strange winged shape flew over me. A small pond had a head too big and flat for a mere turtle. Weasels flashed in the corner of my eyes, casting breezes to see if they could trip me up. A cry from some beast echoed in the distance. I swore I could hear whispers. "The oni are dead, this son of Adam killed them! The oni are dead! Should we rend this man? May we eat him? Wait for the night, wait for the night!"

The ground sloped upward. I kept going. I found the interminable stair case. I saw the gates as they closed. There was some shouting and some monks relieved me from my burdens and shoved a cup of water into my hands. I drank deeply. It was refilled. I saw some elders look over the two. I told them what happened. It turns out that the monk that healed me of the Tsuchigumo's poison had told others of his order of what had been done in Hokkaido, and I was welcomed. They fed me and saw to the few wounds I received, and bathed me. I stayed with Ohaguro and his elder sister until danger had passed. 

In the morning, I went with several of the acolytes and the high priest to see the oni encampment. By use of my compass and memory, we were able to find it. It was as hideous as I remembered. The priests set up many wards and sigils around the encampment. I found my gear. The priests searched the grounds, and began to sort the bones. The she-oni was still dead in the pot, tipped over from her husband's wrath. The big red oni was still dead, the club embedded in the skull. I was very grateful that they weren't the immortal type. 

The priests signed themselves and brought out great rosaries of teak and mahogany. They purified the bones as I watched. I took and cleaned my Chiisagatana, which, sadly, was a little chipped and dulled by the caustic oni blood. I stayed partly to protect the priests, and partly to see it for myself. I had submitted myself to a herbal wash earlier, which recovered me greatly, but I still felt a need to watch. The priests came and let me choose some artifacts that had not been used for evil and were good for man to use. I chose a bauble for my staff, which was supposed to prevent curses and the like. The priests thought the choice wise. I also requested, and was given, one of their wide-brimmed hats of straw. 

I wrote a letter to Ohaguro. He was, revealed by the priests, to be owned by a certain man in a nearby town, like a dog. They thought it weird I wrote to him, considering him a beast, but because I insisted, they relented. I told them carefully that Ohaguro was a distant relation of the Boar God of Mount Koshi, and that to eat him, or to treat him dishonorable would not do well with that deity. Such beasts are sentient, and can speak, courageous as any human. I showed them the icy pendant that never got warm, and told them some of the stories I have told them here. Thus astounded, they agreed. 

I left the group and continued my way south. The priests would take care of the police and family matters. It was well known that the forest was not safe, even if this was the first time that someone had been molested in the path. Besides, accidents did happen, and the priests found a lot of gold in a mound next to the bones...

I continued on my way. This is what I wrote to Ohaguro. I wrote it in Hiragana, being unable yet to properly read kanji so as to write them. 

"Ohaguro! My newfound brother, hail!

I thought that your elder sister was a boar, and not the daughter of the human that owns you. It is good that you are so loyal. Far from being the most wretched of beasts, you are among the most noble. Only the dog may claim more, but they are our slaves, not family. I am writing to you also, to remind you that Lord Inoshishi, of Mount Koshi, would be delighted to host you especially for the price of the tale we have just experienced. It is lovely weather, and excellent to winter in, the land being snowbound, but beautiful and not too arctic. 

Never forget to be noble, Ohaguro, and strong. This world is going through a weak generation. It will be strong when we are old and doting, nodding in our cups. But until then, be strong and courageous, and never forget that Lord Inoshishi respects such. And to your elder sister, my deepest regrets as to not coming sooner, but I am glad you will live, despite being preyed upon by such evil. Treat Ohaguro well, and don't eat him. It would be a grave sin."

I later received word from a monk I kept correspondence with that the boar was well honored when he returned. The father was so grateful that he gave the boar a gold thread rope to wear on feast days and holy days. He stayed courageous, and was known to be a protector of the local children, and many times gored dogs and others who would attack the children. Later, I heard he got fat, and sired many offspring, which was a popular pet in the region. The girl was confined to a wheelchair, eschewing prosthetic legs, and went to school as a veterinarian and environmental worker. 

I'm actually very pleased that Ohaguro got a very happy ending. I however, still wished to rove. I continued south. A farmer, who was in the know from the monks, gave me a ride to the Kyoto outskirts. 


End file.
